If you build it, the state will come
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Ziad Asali - (Opinion) September 4, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad's blueprint for what he has called "de facto Palestinian statehood" offers a new and important element to the quest for peace in the Middle East.

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Israel building in West Bank settlements has dropped, new study finds
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Associated Press
September 3, 2009 - 12:00am

New figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics show that Israel's construction of new homes in West Bank settlements fell by one-third in the first half of 2009, compared to the same period in 2008. The numbers bolster settlers' claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has partially frozen settlement construction under U.S. pressure. The Central Bureau of Statistics said Thursday that housing starts dropped 34 percent to 672 housing units compared to 1,015 for the same period in 2008.

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The lonely struggle of Uri Davis
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Guardian
by Seth Freedman - September 2, 2009 - 12:00am

Waiting for Uri Davis in a hotel forecourt in Ramallah, I reflect that his reputation precedes him by a comfortable distance. His rejection of political Zionism, coupled with his conversion to Islam and his recent election to Fatah's Revolutionary Council means he is treated with a mixture of scorn and hostility by vast swaths of Israelis and supporters of Israel in the Jewish diaspora.

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Fayyad defends plan: Establishing state our responsibility
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ma'an News Agency
September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian caretaker Prime Minister Salam Fayyad defended his plan for a de facto independent Palestinian state against Israeli criticism on Sunday night. "Establishing the state and its institutions is a Palestinian responsibility," Fayyad said in a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "We are interested in this project and we are working towards implementing it," he added. Earlier Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman criticized the Fayyad plan.

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Supporting Salaam Fayad's vision for statehood
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alon Ben-meir - September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad's unveiling of his government program to build the apparatus of a Palestinian state within two years is a bold and welcome initiative.

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A phone call from Prime Minister Fayyad
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Daoud Kuttab
by Daoud Kuttab - (Blog) September 1, 2009 - 12:00am

Except for a short encounter on a plane years ago, I had never met in person Salam Fayyad. I certainly didn’t have any communications with him before I wrote the piece praising his two year planhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/daoud-kuttab/fayyads-brilliant-two-yea_b_270253.html for Palestinian statehood. No one from his office had sent me a copy of the plan or suggested that I write about it.

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Israeli unilateralism undermines the peace process
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Bitterlemons
by Ghassan Khatib - (Opinion) August 31, 2009 - 12:00am

It's been four years since Israel evacuated its settlers and army from the Gaza Strip. Since then, Israel has kept Gaza under a tight siege that has undermined the economy of the already impoverished Strip. Now there seems to be consensus among most Palestinians and Israelis, though for different reasons, that the withdrawal was not constructive as far as peacemaking and ending the conflict are concerned.

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Palestinians uproot Hebrew road signs in West Bank
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

The US international aid agency says Palestinian authorities in the West Bank have started replacing Israeli-installed road signs bearing Hebrew script with new signs in just Arabic and English. The move is in preparation for a future Palestinian state. Howard Sumka, of USAID, says the American-funded project is expected to take up to four years and cost about $20 million. Israel seized the West Bank from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war and built military camps and civilian settlements throughout the territory.

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De-facto deliberations
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Alan Baker - (Opinion) August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

The new aims and proposals enunciated by Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad regarding the establishment of a de facto Palestinian state within two years, with or without Israeli cooperation, would appear at first sight to be interesting. To a certain extent it could even be refreshing, offering a more pragmatic and viable forecast for the political and economic development of the Palestinians than any previous visions - which were based mostly on threats and unrealistic, belligerent rhetoric.

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Running to stand still? The peace test for Netanyahu
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Financial Times
by Philip Stephens - August 27, 2009 - 12:00am

Benjamin Netanyahu has what kindly observers might describe as a credibility problem. Travelling in Europe this week, the Israeli prime minister said he was straining every sinew to restart peace talks with the Palestinians. His interlocutors were unconvinced. Mr Netanyahu looks too much like a politician running in the cause of standing still.

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